


Flowers & Conversations

by DontMakeMeFrosty (AvaHasAClosetMurderBoard)



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Cisco knows nothing about flowers, F/M, Florist!Caitlin, He also needs a hug, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:34:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23495380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvaHasAClosetMurderBoard/pseuds/DontMakeMeFrosty
Summary: 'Caitlin flashes him what she hopes to be a sympathetic smile. “Hello,” she greets, “what can I help you with today?”“Uh, hi there,” he stammers out, eyes darting everywhere. “I’m looking for some flowers.” He pauses to make a face, like he’d just said the most ridiculous thing ever. “... Which is obvious, otherwise I wouldn’t be standing here right now... Right.” He glances up and lets out a breath. “Nice going, Cisco.”'(A Killervibe Flower shop AU)
Relationships: Cisco Ramon & Caitlin Snow, Cisco Ramon/Caitlin Snow
Comments: 12
Kudos: 24





	Flowers & Conversations

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MoonlightShines (Thatkillervibe)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thatkillervibe/gifts).



> tkv kindly reminded me I had this AU laying around so I went ahead and finished it :P 
> 
> There's not much to say other than I'm leaving the ending open in case I want to add another chapter later on, but for now it stands as a one shot ♥ 
> 
> A huge thank you again to @WardenRoot for the beta! :*

The bell on the front door of the small flower shop chimes. 

Caitlin gives the final touches to a beautiful arrangement of lilies she’s been working on for the past half hour, wipes her hands clean on the dark blue apron, and turns around with a smile on her face, ready to greet the new customer. It’s a young man, possibly about her age, with long dark hair and a curious glint in his eyes, and the very first thing she notices about him is that he’s wearing the most ridiculous t-shirt she has ever seen - it has a cat clinging to a branch, with the words  _ ‘hang in there’  _ written in bold underneath the picture. The second is that he looks to be absolutely  _ lost,  _ like he’d wandered in by mistake. If she wasn’t so used to seeing that same look on men’s faces whenever they walk into her little shop, she may have been surprised. 

A list of flowers for saying  _ ‘I’m sorry I was such a jerk’  _ flashes in her mind and her eyes make a quick double take to the buckets with fresh flowers lined next to the door. Lucky for him she’s well stocked on the ones he may need.

Caitlin flashes him what she hopes to be a sympathetic smile. “Hello,” she greets, “what can I help you with today?”

“Uh, hi there,” he stammers out, eyes darting everywhere. “I’m looking for some flowers.” He pauses to make a face, like he’d just said the most ridiculous thing ever. “... Which is obvious, otherwise I wouldn’t be standing here right now... Right.” He glances up and lets out a breath. “ _ Nice going, Cisco. _ ”

The last part is muttered more to himself, but she hears it and has to stifle a giggle. This guy looks like a handful. “How about we start with the basics?” Caitlin offers. “Who are the flowers for and what’s the occasion? 

The man -  _ Cisco _ \- gives her an appreciative smile. “For my girlfriend. As for the occasion… I  _ may have _ forgotten our three weeks anniversary.”

She gasps and places a hand above her heart in faux shock. “That’s a terrible thing to forget about! No wonder you’re in such desperate need of flowers.” Caitlin is rewarded with a chuckle for the joke. “Lucky for you, you’ve come to the right place.” She winks and then puts her best ‘business mode’ voice on. “So, do you happen to know what kind of flowers she likes best?”

He makes a face. “... No.”

Just as she was expecting. “That’s alright. Did you have something in mind?”

“A bouquet of red roses?”

Caitlin rolls her eyes and moves away from the counter. “Red roses are actually not as effective as romcoms make them seem to be.” She moves past him, onto a small section of colorful flowers standing to his left and fiddles with the buckets until she can reach what she’s looking for. “Red carnations are just as beautiful for a ‘deep romantic love’ feeling or even red tulips. But--” She makes a tiny pleased sound and drags two buckets from the back rows. “In this case and for this situation in specific I would recommend lilies or white orchids.”

He makes a thoughtful face at her words and one of his hands actually moves to stroke his own chin, as if in deep contemplation. She can see his eyes flickering between the flowers - and occasionally herself - and knows what’s about to come before he even says it. “I’ll take both.”

Caitlin almost rolls her eyes.  _ Almost.  _

It’s obvious, from the grand display he pulls, that he has no idea which flowers to choose from and would logically end up picking both. She doesn’t say anything, simply nods and kneels down to carefully search through the buckets and pick some fresh and colorful stems for the bouquet. She can feel his eyes on her the entire time she does it, and he’s clearly watching her as she goes to stand behind the counter and begins work on his order. It doesn’t take long to get the flowers weaved together and ready for him to take, and when she turns around holding the finalized product Cisco’s eyes instantly light up.

“Woah!” he lets out. She laughs and gently places the flowers down on the counter. “These look great.”

“Thank you. I hope she likes them.”

“I’m sure she will,” he says with a smile. “How much do I owe you?”

She scrunches her nose and bites the inside of her cheek. “I’m giving you the ‘truly sorry guy discount’ so… That will be twenty dollars.”

Cisco chuckles at her words. “That’s a very funny one.” He reaches for his wallet and glances up. She’s not laughing. “Wait, you’re serious? That’s an actual thing?”

Caitlin shrugs, a teasing smile on her lips. “Who knows. Maybe it is, maybe I just made it up.”

“You’re a really funny one.” He hands her the money and she rings him up. “Are all florists this humourous or is it just you?”

“I wouldn’t know, would I?”

She hands him the bouquet and he takes it carefully. Their fingers brush and there’s a tingling warm feeling that lingers on her skin from the contact that has her suddenly clearing her throat and trying to hide the flush on her cheeks. Luckily Cisco doesn’t seem to notice it.

“Well, thank you for the flowers...” he makes a face, “sorry I don’t think I caught your name.”

“You’re very welcome. And I’m Caitlin-- Caitlin Snow.”

“Caitlin Snow.” Cisco rolls the words in his tongue like he’s tasting them and Caitlin nearly combusts on the spot at how lovely her name sounds coming from his lips. “Thanks again for everything, Caitlin.”

He waves at her and walks out of the small shop, and the moment the door closes behind him Caitlin lets out the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. What’s wrong with her, crushing like a highschooler on a client? She just met the guy  _ and  _ he has a girlfriend! 

Caitlin shakes her head and blames it on the little hours of sleep she’s running on. She turns around and busies herself with making another flower arrangement, but as she weaves and twists the leaves and stems, her mind keeps replaying the way Cisco said her name. Her lips draw in a thin line, her movements become frantic, and when the bell chimes she nearly jumps out of her skin. The flowers she was working on go everywhere and she lets out a frustrated growl, and when she turns around there’s a flabbergasted older lady staring at her like she’s crazy. 

_ ‘Maybe I am’ _ , she thinks bitterly. Caitlin slaps on her best smile and apologizes for the mess, and while she’s taking the lady’s order, her thoughts drift to Cisco again and she wonders if she’ll ever see him again.

Not that she wants to - or so she tells herself.

******

Cisco does end up showing up a few more times at her little shop. His visits are sporadic, his presence an ‘every other week’ sort of thing, but what remains the same is the reason he comes in - a seemingly forgotten anniversary. Caitlin feels truly sorry for him but bites her tongue, even as the warriness in his eyes becomes more and more noticeable each time she sees him. He also becomes quieter than he’d been before, which is a long way from the chirpy man that used to always laugh at her jokes and crack some of his own. 

Caitlin is just finishing up wrapping the latest flower bouquet he’d requested from her when he speaks up. “Work has been really busy these days,” he says, “new projects in the works and all that.”

She simply hums in response, not really sure what else she can say to his sudden confession. Caitlin turns around to hand him the finished product and when their gazes meet, she finds an unfamiliar edge of uncertainty in his eyes. “What?” She finds herself asking out loud.

He just shakes his head and takes the flowers from her, a twenty dollar bill already sitting on top of the counter for Caitlin to take. “Nothing, just me venting.” Cisco flashes her a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Thanks for the flowers.”

“Of course-” she finds herself mirroring his smile- “have a nice day.”

“You too, Caitlin. See you around.”

There’s something about the way he says it, and the way his eyes linger on her longer than they’d ever done, that tells Caitlin something feels off. She wants to say just that, but she’s suddenly tongue tied - is it really okay to pry when they’re not even friends? - and so she simply watches him go, dressed in his dark purple fancy suit, with a tie that would be better suited adorning a trash can than anything else. Maybe she’d gotten too used seeing him in his ridiculous shirts to admire this new look, but Caitlin has an inkling that the entire thing wasn’t Cisco’s own choice. 

Maybe it was work. Maybe it was something else. Maybe she’ll never know. 

Two weeks pass before Caitlin sees him again. Her eyes light up when she catches sight of him pushing the door open, but her expression quickly morphs into a frown as she takes in Cisco’s appearance. He's still wearing a suit but there's no tie this time, and the top buttons of his white button up shirt are undone. His hair is all frizzy and the bags under his eyes are more pronounced, and Caitlin finds herself unconsciously moving from behind the counter towards him out of concern.

"I quit my job," is all he offers, and Caitlin’s heart does this little twisty thing at how dejected he sounds. She's not sure why she suddenly moves past him to the door - she's even less sure why she turns the hand painted sign around to show 'closed' and reaches down to turn the key in the lock. 

Cisco is watching her with some surprise when she finally turns around, and Caitlin only offers him a small smile as she casually reaches for his hand as she passes by, pulling him along with her towards the door behind the counter. It's her turn to be surprised when Cisco willingly follows her without a word.

The small back room is littered with all sorts of buckets, some empty and others still full, and Caitlin finds herself regrettably having to let go of his hand to make some space on the table. She moves and shuffles some things around, making sure at least two of the four chairs are free, and then she grabs a rag to wipe down any remaining spec of dust and dirt from the furniture. She's extra careful in making sure Cisco’s chair is spotless, and after she's happy enough with her work, she glances towards where he's still awkwardly standing on the threshold and pats the seat. 

Caitlin is surprised once again as Cisco simply nods and moves to sit down. 

She makes herself busy in the small kitchenette at the far left of the room, opening and closing drawers. She gets some tea going, along with some coffee, and even grabs a few different biscuits to go with it, unsure of what Cisco likes. It takes some few long minutes for her to be able to collect and place everything she needs on the table, but it's worth it when his eyes light up as she finally takes a seat across from him. 

"You didn't have to do all this," he tells her, and Caitlin simply shrugs. 

"I wanted to. And besides, you look like you could use something warm to drink and some food comfort."

He simply shoots her a thankful look before he's reaching for the fresh coffee pot, and they sit in comfortable silence for a while. Caitlin wants to ask him what happened and, most importantly, why he came to her of all people, but decides to wait. If Cisco wants to open up and tell her all about it, he should be able to do so at his own time. And if all he needs right now is some silent company, Caitlin doesn't mind offering him just that. 

It's only when she's nursing her second cup of tea that he finally opens up, and begins telling her all about how he'd traded this old job he loved so much at Star Labs to work at some big shot tech company. Turns out both his parents and his girlfriend - now  _ ex-girlfriend -  _ had not so kindly pointed out he was wasting his potential away and that if he wanted to start a family, he would need a bigger paycheck. Caitlin lets him vent his frustrations, timely nodding along to his words so he knows she's listening, and her heart really goes out to him. She'd felt the same kind of pressure from her own parents as well, both baffled at why Caitlin would choose to open a flower shop instead of finishing med school. 

Cisco’s mouth falls open when she tells him that. "So you could have been a doctor now?"

"I could," she admits, pausing to take a small sip of her tea. "But I like flowers best. They don't scream when you stab them."

He blinks at her for a moment and she holds her carefully crafted poker face, never breaking eye contact. Cisco lets out a nervous chuckle. "Oh, you’re serious."

Maybe it's the way he says it - or maybe it's simply the way he seems to  _ actually believe her _ \- that causes her to burst out laughing. He looks at her like Caitlin has offended all his ancestors, and that only serves to make her laugh even harder. 

It doesn't take long for his expression to morph into something lighter and Caitlin is absolutely delighted when she actually manages to get a chuckle out of him. It's not much, but she counts it as a small victory. 

"You're really a funny one, Caitlin Snow," he says as he shakes his head and reaches for the coffee pot again, and she hates how just hearing her name coming out of his lips is enough to make her heart flutter.

They’re at the last of their drinks when Caitlin advises him to follow his heart and do what really makes him happy. His eyes light up in a way she hasn't seen in a while and the smile he gives her is nothing but warm. 

They end up saying their goodbyes not long after, Cisco thanking her again and again for her hospitality, while apologising profusely for bothering her with his issues. Caitlin simply smiles and tells him his welcome anytime, and is surprised when he awkwardly moves to give her a quick kiss on her cheek right before he leaves her little shop.

Her skin still tingles from where his lips made contact long after he's gone.


End file.
